2014-2015 Visual Arts Courses

Expanded Sculpture II

This course will continue from Expanded Sculpture I, where we will explore how the artist develops an expanded practice of art making. The structure of a small seminar will allow more in-depth exploration of materials and processes related to object-making, as well as the integration of digital media into a sculptural conception. There will be readings and discussion on selected topics in critical theory that have shaped our understanding of culture and contemporary art as a whole. We will look at the transformation of global cultural practices and their impact on defining a sculptural space and discourse. We will explore several different conceptual frameworks for generating creative responses as a way of building an expanded practice. Students will have access to a range of materials such as cardboard, wood, metal, plaster, digital media, and mechanical systems—with technical support provided in the handling of these media. Experience in the visual, performative, industrial, and/or digital arts is helpful, as students will be expected to work independently. For the interview, students are encouraged to bring images of work done in any medium.

Innovation Lab: What Would Body Cameras Change?

Body cameras worn by police officers have been a popular proposal for some time, and supporters of police reform hope that they will both reduce misconduct on both sides and provide facts in a discipline otherwise plagued by uncertainties. After the tragic events in 2014, resulting in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, several cities have announced the future use body cameras. A recent executive order by President Obama will cover some of the cost for 50,000 units to be worn by police officers. One hope is that these cameras will alter the behavior on both sides. If everyone is observed, people will behave with more civility and there will be more accountability. Images do not lie. But there is a problem: To what extent does video surveillance really change behavior? Is there a way to measure these changes? Videocameras in public spaces have been around since the 1980s. In the age of Facebook, YouTube and Vine, people are used to being privately videotaped and photographed—and they watch and post, on a daily basis, private content that can be seen by all. Or does it just make a difference who is on the other side of the lens? We will examine these issues and attempt to answer some of the questions. We will look at the history of video surveillance and examine arguments made in the past. Then we will go out and do our own surveys of how people behave under surveillance by using body and stationary cameras—maybe even fake and secret ones—remote and Web cams, on campus and outside. We should get a sense of the current law and find out if there are limits to the use of surveillance cameras. Finally, we will consider ways of presenting our findings in the form of happenings, exhibitions, an art project…who knows? To solve this problem, this course will also teach a number of the technologies involved. You will learn basic video processing with Max/MSP/Jitter to set up remote cameras, analyze some of the content, and present our findings in various ways. This is a group problem-solving lab; while there will be the occasional lecture, emphasis is on collaborative research and a systematic approach to solving problems together. Students will work jointly in groups of various sizes, investigate the issue, pose important questions, and find solutions to problems connected to this inquiry. Your curiosity will influence elements of this course to some degree. A strong interest in privacy issues is required.

Architecture Studio II: Architectural Design

Building on themes examined in Architecture Studio I: Urban Design, this studio will focus on a particular design problem to be investigated at the scale of architectural construction. The semester will build on a series of progressively more complex exercises, increasing in scale and scope to arrive at a final project that brings together concept, program, formal invention, and performative experience. The project site and program will relate directly to investigations carried out in the Urban Design Studio and challenges identified there, scales complementing each other to inspire discovery. We will work in collaboration with local partners, including the Sarah Lawrence Center for Urban Rivers at Beczak and the Bronx River Alliance, among others. Students will use diagramming, physical model-building and 3D digital modeling, rendering, and animation to create design proposals. Completion of Architecture Studio I is highly recommended. Rhino Workshop II must be taken concurrently with this course or prior to it. Knowledge of Adobe Suite programs is recommended.

Architecture Studio I: Urban Design

The Urban Design Studio examines the contemporary city to reveal its hidden layers of social and spatial networks. Our goal is to develop strategies in which urban design can inspire keener sensibility toward social and environmental responsibilities of the city for both interaction and social action. We will investigate how nature can transcend preconceived social and political boundaries to link neighborhoods and create new centers of engagement. Using New York City and its immediate environs as a case study, students will envision new connections and opportunities forged along the city’s urban waterways and industrial corridors. We will work in collaboration with local partners, including the Sarah Lawrence Center for Urban Rivers at Beczak and the Bronx River Alliance, among others. Class will balance collective work and individual exploration. Students will use mapping, physical model-building, and 3D digital modeling to document findings and create design proposals. Emphasis will be made on how to couple formal invention at a neighborhood scale with an exacting conceptual framework amid heterogeneous collaboration. Rhino Workshop I must be taken concurrently with this course or prior to it. Knowledge of Adobe Suite programs is recommended.

Filmmaking, Screenwriting and Media Arts

First-Year Studies: Sustainable Content: An Introduction to Media Creation for the Web

This course is designed for students who wish to create fiction films, nonfiction films, and media exclusively for a Web audience. The course largely centers on gaining practical film/media production experience; however, students are encouraged to produce material that builds community and engages its audience beyond a single view. Through storytelling, students explore ways to best utilize democratized and participatory spaces online. Projects may include unique approaches to scripted material, socially relevant short-form documentary, music-inspired visual storytelling, and the like. Students are encouraged to be innovative, provocative, and responsible in their online film- and media-making. In three teams of five, students will work within their crews to produce three pieces of content during the year. Several small exercises accompany the larger projects with components that include research, pitching, and technical proficiency. The year-end final presentation is an opportunity for students to screen their work and present how they plan to reach their target audience(s) and why their chosen platform is the appropriate home in which their media should live.

First-Year Studies: Animated Documentary

This introductory course provides students with an opportunity to create short animated films that emerge from a rethinking of the traditional documentary format. The focus is on learning animation techniques and approaches that embrace documentary film as an art practice. Through class workshops and the screening of both short documentary films and animated documentary films, students will develop familiarity with a variety of traditional and digital technologies to produce works that explore ideas in animation and in animation coupled with live footage. Practice in this course is integrated with theory so that production is held within the context of critical thinking about the possibilities for documentary storytelling. In the first semester, we will undertake a series of short individual and group exercises in response to the work of other animators and our own research. The second semester will focus on individual projects that integrate the core principles of animation and fully explored documentary concepts in work of the student’s own design. Conference projects may be executed as short animated films or Web-based animations. With the recent explosion of interest in documentary film production, this course offers first-year students the chance to discover their own unique style for the telling of real stories with animated images. Technical instruction includes workshops in story development, rotoscope drawing, cutout animation, miniature puppetry, lighting, cameras, and the software AfterEffects, Toon Boom Animate Pro, iStopMotion, and Final Cut Pro. No drawing or other art studio experience is required.

Digital Documentary Storytelling

This introduction to documentary/nonfiction storytelling for the screen investigates the palette of documentary production styles illustrated in the works of influential directors Luis Buñuel, Su Friedrich, Barbara Kopple, Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, Sam Pollard, and the Newsreel Collective. The course uniquely provides an opportunity for students in other disciplines who have interest in film and video to eventually adapt conference work from other fields to the video medium. Synthesizing theory and practice, students explore the intersection of other popular movements—surrealism and feminism—in the documentary discourse. Each student is encouraged to experience theory as a means of discovering his or her own creative voice. Students develop skills in shooting and editing in specialized technical labs and in their work on preliminary exercises and assignments. They develop, research, conceptualize, write treatments for, produce, direct, and edit individual productions or co-productions developed in pairs. This workshop provides students with the perfect opportunity to create the short documentary that they’ve always imagined, including social-issues documentaries, autobiographical shorts, experimental documentaries, road movies, anecdotal portrayals, and city symphonies.

Creating the Digital Documentary

Building on skills and materials gathered in the fall or in other courses, students pursue the creation and production of significant short-form documentaries. In this course, interdisciplinary projects that involve documentary film and other disciplines are encouraged. Students explore documentary structure from both the conceptual and the editorial stance. In addition, by deconstructing consequential documentaries that have influenced history—such as Blackfish by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Gasland by Josh Fox, and The Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris—students are introduced to productions that aspire to real-world impact. In class, students with previous experience can continue work on conference documentaries pitched during the first semester, while new students entering in the spring will conceptualize and initiate works framed within the broad range of documentary modes—poetic, expository, observational, participatory, reflexive, performative. In individual conferences and in specialized technical labs, all students continue to develop preproduction, production, and postproduction skill-sets to the measure of their own conference productions.

Working With Light and Shadows

This course will introduce students to the basics of cinematography and film production. In addition to covering camera operation, students will explore composition, visual style, and overall operation of lighting and grip equipment. Students will work together on scenes directed and produced in class and geared toward the training of set etiquette, production language, and workflow. Work will include the re-creation of classic film scenes, with an emphasis on visual style. Students will discuss work and provide feedback that will be incorporated into the next project. For conference, students will be required to produce a short project on HD video (3-5 minutes in length), incorporating elements discussed throughout the term. Students will outline the project, draw floor plans and shot-lists, edit the film, and screen the final project for the class. This is an intensive, hands-on workshop that immerses the student in all aspects of film production. By the end of the course, students should feel confident to approach a film production project with enough experience to take on introductory positions with potential for growth.

Cinematography: Color, Composition, and Style

This course will continue the training in cinematography and film production started in Working With Light and Shadows. In addition to covering camera operation and basic lighting, students will explore composition, color palettes, and applying a visual style to enhance the story. The course will revolve around developing original work and shooting scenes on a weekly basis. Work will be discussed and notes incorporated into the next project. As part of conference work, students will be required to produce a short project on HD video (3-5 minutes in length), incorporating elements discussed throughout the semester. Students will develop, write, draw floor plans, shoot, edit, and screen a final project by the end of the term. This is an intensive, hands-on workshop that immerses the student in all aspects of film production. By the end of the course, students should feel confident to approach a film production project with enough experience to take on introductory and assistant positions with potential for growth.

Working With Light and Shadows

This course will introduce students to the basics of cinematography and film production. In addition to covering camera operation, students will explore composition, visual style, and overall operation of lighting and grip equipment. Students will work together on scenes directed and produced in class and geared toward the training of set etiquette, production language, and workflow. Work will include the re-creation of classic film scenes, with an emphasis on visual style. Students will discuss work and provide feedback that will be incorporated into the next project. For conference, students will be required to produce a short project on HD video (3-5 minutes in length), incorporating elements discussed throughout the term. Students will outline the project, draw floor plans and shot-lists, edit the film, and screen the final project for the class. This is an intensive, hands-on workshop that immerses the student in all aspects of film production. By the end of the course, students should feel confident to approach a film production project with enough experience to take on introductory positions with potential for growth.

Cinematography: Color, Composition, and Style

This course will continue the training in cinematography and film production started in Working With Light and Shadows. In addition to covering camera operation and basic lighting, students will explore composition, color palettes, and applying a visual style to enhance the story. The course will revolve around developing original work and shooting scenes on a weekly basis. Work will be discussed and notes incorporated into the next project. As part of conference work, students will be required to produce a short project on HD video (3-5 minutes in length), incorporating elements discussed throughout the semester. Students will develop, write, draw floor plans, shoot, edit, and screen a final project by the end of the term. This is an intensive, hands-on workshop that immerses the student in all aspects of film production. By the end of the course, students should feel confident to approach a film production project with enough experience to take on introductory and assistant positions with potential for growth.

Collaboration in Audio and Moving-Image Technologies

This team-taught course introduces artistic strategies, narrative structures, and compositional methodologies for the creation of sound and image installations, networked media, and live performance projects. Presentations, reading, and discussion cover the aesthetic theories, technology, and histories that drive these congruent media. Through intensive collaborative workshops, students will experiment with the relationships and potential dialogue between the audience and the artwork and apply their observations by designing and building their own projects. Classes will be organized around hands-on activities, lecture, and technical training. Students use basic building blocks of digital filmmaking, sound and music technologies, and installation art. In addition, the course will cover key genres of sound and installation art that include noise art, sound poetry, serialism, minimalism, site specificity, temporality, process, etc. A major component of the course will be the ongoing analysis and critique of student work. Students should be prepared to give and receive constructive criticism on their work and the work of professional artists presented. Permission of the instructor is required.

Concepts in Media Self-Portraiture

With the advent of newer modes of expression—video, the Internet, and performance art—the definitions and parameters of self-portraiture have departed dramatically from traditional forms. What is consistent, however, is that self-portraits remain a means of self-exploration and self-expression. Through video production and performance, this course examines the richness of modern and contemporary self-portraiture and its compelling relationship to the personal construction of identity. Self-portraits in film, installation, and performance art will be produced within contexts such as distortion, reflection, psychoanalysis, gender, persona, race, gesture, and style. Students will be encouraged to explore their own self-concepts and identities through autobiographical narratives, a look into the uncanny overlaps of virtual and lived realities, and the invention of persona. Through the process of media-making, we will explore individually and collectively the humorous, intellectual, sardonic, freakish, complex, shy, imaginative, spiritual, neurotic, and paranoid. Presentations, readings, and discussion cover the aesthetic theories, media technology, and histories that drive the production of contemporary self-portraiture. Artists under consideration will include Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Frieda Kahlo, Karen Finley, Shana Moulton, Marta dell’Angello, Keren Cytter, Joseph Beuys, and many others.

Drawing for Animation: Form and Motion

This course focuses on the fundamentals of drawing as it pertains to two-dimensional, hand-drawn animation. Students will gain knowledge in drawing skills, including understanding of value, motion, light logic through observation, and developing form and structure utilizing perspective drawing concepts. The course will introduce students to the traditional animation techniques of creating movement through successive drawings. Techniques include walking cycles, metamorphosis transformations, holds, squash and stretch, blur, and resistance concepts. Students develop and create pencil-test projects created with iStopMotion, Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro software. Examples illustrating drawn-animation techniques are screened regularly. This course will enhance drawing skills and help students develop stronger drawing proficiencies for animations, graphic novels, and narrative storyboards for film.

Storyboard Drawing and Visualization for Film and Animation

This course focuses on the art of storyboard construction as the preproduction stage for graphics, film/video, and animation. Students will be introduced to storyboard strategies, exploring visual concepts such as shot types, continuity, pacing, transitions, and sequencing into visual communication. Both classical and experimental techniques for creating storyboards will be covered. Emphasis will be placed on production of storyboard drawings, both by hand and digitally, to negotiate sequential image development and establish shot-by-shot progression, camera angles, staging, frame composition, editing, and continuity in film and other media. Instruction will concentrate primarily on drawing from thumbnail sketches through final presentation storyboards and animatics. The final project for this class will be the production by each student of a full presentation storyboard and a low-res animatic in a combined visual, audio, and text presentation format. Knowledge of storyboards and animatics from this class may be used for idea development and presentation of your project to collaborators, for pitching projects to professional agencies, and—most importantly—for you, the maker. Photoshop, Storyboard Pro, Final Cut Pro X software will be used throughout this course.

Introduction to Television Writing: The Spec Script

The fundamental skill of television writers is the ability to craft entertaining and compelling stories for characters, worlds, and situations created by others. Though dozens of writers may work on a show over the course of its run, the “voice” of the show is unified and singular. A mandatory element of any aspiring TV writer’s portfolio is writing a “spec script” for an existing TV show. Developing, pitching, writing, and rewriting stories hundreds of times extremely quickly, in collaboration, and on tight deadlines is what TV writers on staff do every day, fitting each episode seamlessly into the series as a whole in tone, concept, and execution. This workshop will introduce students to these skills by taking them, step-by-step, through writing their own spec (sample) script for an ongoing television dramatic series. The course will take students from premise lines, through the outline/beat sheet, to writing a complete draft of a full one-hour teleplay for a currently airing show (no original pilots). In conference, students may wish to develop another spec script, begin to develop characters and a series “bible” for an original show, or work on previously developed material. Prospective students should be familiar with a significant number of contemporary, on-air television shows and will have to screen entire runs of four selected, currently high-rated shows to be advised during the course interview.

TV Writing: The Original TV Pilot

This class builds upon TV writing fundamentals learned in the fall class or from another course in spec scriptwriting. Students will generate beat sheets and pages to create and write original one-hour and half-hour shows (no sitcoms). Focusing on engineering story machines, we power characters and situations with enough conflict to generate episodes over many years. In conference, students may wish to develop another spec script, begin to develop characters and a series “bible” for another original show, or work on previously developed material. Students are expected to have an extensive working knowledge across many genres of TV shows that have aired domestically during the past 25-30 years.

Writing for the Screen

This course for the beginning to intermediate screenwriter is a rigorous, yet intimate, setting in which to explore screenwriting work-in-progress. Structured as a rigorous workshop, we will explore the nature of screenwriting. Students may work on either short-form or feature-length screenplays or on a television or Web series. They will read peer work, with the entire process supported by in-class analysis and critiques thereof. We will migrate from initial idea—through character development, story generation, and rough draft—to a series of finished, short-form screenplays or a feature-length script. Fundamentals of character, story, universe and setting, dramatic action, tension, conflict, structure, and style will be explored. In conference, students may research and develop long-form screenplays or teleplays, craft a series of short screenplays for production courses or independent production, rewrite a previously written script, adapt original material from another form, and so forth.

Writing and Rewriting for the Screen

This course for the intermediate to advanced screenwriter builds on the foundation from the fall or from another course in screenwriting. Through a rigorous workshop, we will delve deeper into the nature of screenwriting, further refining students’ skills and exploring advanced thematic and structural issues. Students may work either on short-form or feature-length screenplays or on a television or Web series. They will read peer work, with the entire process supported by in-class analysis and critiques thereof. We will migrate from initial idea—through character development, story generation, and the rough draft—to a series of finished, short-form screenplays or a feature-length script. Fundamentals of character, story, universe and setting, dramatic action, tension, conflict, structure, and style will be explored. In conference, students may research and develop long-form screenplays or teleplays, craft a series of short screenplays for production courses or independent production, rewrite a previously written script, adapt original material from another form, and the like.

Screenwriting: Structuring and Writing the Narrative Feature Film

At first glance, narrative screenplay writing can seem restrictive and rigid; but once a writer learns the structural paradigms, those same parameters can actually free up the artist in untold ways. This writing workshop will focus on building strong bones for your feature-length, narrative screenplay. What makes a screenplay unique is not solely the structure but, rather, the artist’s point of view on the world; however, concept, character, setting, dialogue, and action come to the forefront when embedded in a sound, reliable framework. Weekly writing assignments will explore everything from generating and developing a robust concept to building characters and to outlining a plot that will deliver a satisfying film viewing experience. After a rigorous outlining process, students will begin to write pages and present them in the workshop. Students will learn to give and receive helpful critical feedback. Some screenwriting experience is helpful but not required for this course.

Introduction to Filmmaking: Where to Put the Camera

Camera placement is one of the film director’s primary responsibilities; but to the beginning filmmaker, that can feel like an arbitrary and daunting task. This course will demystify the filmmaking process by giving students the opportunity to experiment with directing through a series of targeted shooting exercises. Through practice, students will learn how to place the camera to give the greatest impact to their narratives. During this workshop, students will watch and analyze each other’s exercises, learn how to become active film viewers, and give useful critical feedback. For their conference work, students will be required to produce a short narrative film. They will write the screenplay, cast and direct actors, draw floor plans and shot-lists, edit the video on Final Cut Pro, and screen the final product for the class. This class is not a history or theory class but, rather, a hands-on workshop that gives students a taste of all aspects of visual storytelling.

Screenwriting: Finishing The First Draft of Your Feature Film

Sometimes writing is fun, and sometimes writing is just hard work. This course builds on the foundation of the fall course, Structuring and Writing the Narrative Feature Film, and will help students face both probabilities by shepherding them through a completed first draft of their feature-length screenplay. Having an entire script in hand provides the reader with a unique overview of a story’s structure and thematic concerns that may get lost in the moment-to-moment writing of the script. Of course, every student will have his or her own writing process; but in this course, we will push each student through to the end. Students will rely heavily on their outlines from first semester (or materials developed in other related courses) in order to form a page budget and writing schedule. Students will also learn revision skills that will help them put their best foot forward in their early drafts. Students will present their pages biweekly to the workshop and hone their editorial skills by giving and receiving helpful critical feedback.

Making the Genre Film: Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy

Working within a genre can greatly assist the fledgling filmmaker by suggesting content and stylistic elements, thereby freeing the artist to focus on self-expression. This is a hands-on production course focused on producing genre films. Our class discussions and video exercises will explore various ideas present in the so-called “lesser genres” of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy: the idea of the “monster,” man/woman vs. society suspense, fear, sexual politics, and repression, as well as the smart use of special effects and other strategies for the independent filmmaker working in the genre. In addition to class exercises, students will each produce and direct a short video project for their conference work.

Filmmaking Structural Analysis

The course explores narrative storytelling forms in contemporary cinema and screenwriting. Geared toward the perspective of the aspiring/emerging screenwriter, filmmaker, and/or media artist, the seminar includes screenings of films and the concurrent reading of source materials and their respective screenplays. Cinema language, dramatic theory, and cinematic story structures will be explored, including sequencing, episodic, three-act, four-act, seven-act, teleplay, and the so-called character-driven forms. Selected texts will be read, and weekly structural analyses will be written. Students will also explore screenwriting exercises throughout the course and investigate the connection between oral storytelling and the nature of narration through the screenplay. Conference projects often focus on the development of a long-form screenplay/teleplay, short-form and Web screenwriting, analytical research paper, or other film-related endeavors. A foundation course for narrative screenwriting, filmmaking, and new media projects, as well as for dramatic analysis, this course develops skills that can be applied to other forms of dramatic writing and storytelling.

Screenwriting: The Art and Craft of Film-Telling

How do you write a screenplay? One word at a time, articulating the action (the “doing”) of the characters and thereby revealing the emotional moments of recognition in the characters’ journey. Pursuing the fundamentals of developing and writing narrative fiction motion-picture screenplays, the course starts with a focus on the short-form screenplay. We’ll explore the nature of writing screen stories for film, the Web, and television. The approach views screenwriting as having less of a connection to literature and playwriting and more of a connection to the oral tradition of storytelling. We will dissect the nature and construct of the screenplay to reveal that the document—the script—is actually the process of “telling your film” (or movie, Web series, TV show, et al). In film-telling, the emerging screenwriter will be encouraged to think and approach the work as a director; because until someone else emerges to take the reins (if it is not the screenwriter), the writer is the director—if only on the page. With the class structured as a combination of seminar and workshop-style exchanges, students will read selected texts and produced screenplays, write detailed script analyses, view films and clips, and, naturally, write short narrative fiction screenplays. While students will be writing scripts starting in the first class, they will also be introduced to the concept of “talking their stories,” as well, in order to explore character and plot while gaining a solid foundation in screen storytelling, visual writing, and screenplay evolution. We will migrate from initial idea through research techniques, character development, story generation, outlining, the rough draft, and rewrites to a series of finished short-form screenplays. The fundamentals of character, story, universe and setting, dramatic action, tension, conflict, sequence structure, acts, and style will be explored, with students completing a series of short scripts and a final written project. In-class analysis of peer work within the context of a safe environment will help students to have a critical eye and to develop skills to apply to the troubleshooting of one’s own work. Overall, the student builds a screenwriter’s toolkit for use as various projects emerge in the future. In conference, students may research and develop a long-form screenplay or teleplays, develop a TV series concept and “bible,” initiate and develop a Web series concept, craft a series of short screenplays for production courses or independent production, rewrite a previously written script, adapt original material from another form, and so forth. Research and screen storytelling skills developed through the course can be applied to other writing forms.

Writing the Film: Scripts for Screen-Based Media

This course is for the emerging screenwriter seeking to write for creative, screen-based media projects. Students may be initiating a new screenplay/project, adapting original material into the screenplay form, creating a Web series or television project, rewriting a screenplay, or finishing a screenplay-in-progress. A review of screenwriting fundamentals during the first few weeks, as well as a discussion of the state of each project, will be followed by an intense screenwriting workshop experience. Students are expected to enter the course with an existent screenplay, a strong idea, an outline or narrative roadmap of their project, and the capability of “talking out” the concept and journey. The expectation is for students to finish a first-draft project. Published screenplays, several useful texts, and clips of films and media will form a body of examples to help concretize aspects of the art and craft.

Screenwriting: The Art and Craft of Film-Telling

How do you write a screenplay? One word at a time, articulating the action (the “doing”) of the characters and thereby revealing the emotional moments of recognition in the characters’ journey. Pursuing the fundamentals of developing and writing narrative fiction motion-picture screenplays, the course starts with a focus on the short-form screenplay. We’ll explore the nature of writing screen stories for film, the Web, and television. The approach views screenwriting as having less of a connection to literature and playwriting and more of a connection to the oral tradition of storytelling. We will dissect the nature and construct of the screenplay to reveal that the document—the script—is actually the process of “telling your film” (or movie, Web series, TV show, et al). In film-telling, the emerging screenwriter will be encouraged to think and approach the work as a director; because until someone else emerges to take the reins (if it is not the screenwriter), the writer is the director—if only on the page. With the class structured as a combination of seminar and workshop-style exchanges, students will read selected texts and produced screenplays, write detailed script analyses, view films and clips, and, naturally, write short narrative fiction screenplays. While students will be writing scripts starting in the first class, they will also be introduced to the concept of “talking their stories,” as well, in order to explore character and plot while gaining a solid foundation in screen storytelling, visual writing, and screenplay evolution. We will migrate from initial idea through research techniques, character development, story generation, outlining, the rough draft, and rewrites to a series of finished short-form screenplays. The fundamentals of character, story, universe and setting, dramatic action, tension, conflict, sequence structure, acts, and style will be explored, with students completing a series of short scripts and a final written project. In-class analysis of peer work within the context of a safe environment will help students to have a critical eye and to develop skills to apply to the troubleshooting of one’s own work. Overall, the student builds a screenwriter’s toolkit for use as various projects emerge in the future. In conference, students may research and develop a long-form screenplay or teleplays, develop a TV series concept and “bible,” initiate and develop a Web series concept, craft a series of short screenplays for production courses or independent production, rewrite a previously written script, adapt original material from another form, and so forth. Research and screen storytelling skills developed through the course can be applied to other writing forms.

Filmmaking: The Director Prepares

From screenplay until the actual shooting of a film, what does a director do to prepare? This class will explore, in depth, some of the many processes a director may use in order to develop and actualize her or his vision, including: screenplay revision, interpretation and breakdown, character development, how to access and communicate visual ideas for the look of the film, and how to study camera styles and movement in order to decide how best to visually realize your story through your shot selection, staging, and casting. Each student will pursue a series of exercises, culminating in the directing, shooting, and editing of two exercises—one scene (a private moment) to develop character through cinematic storytelling and one scene, with dialogue, from the screenplay—in order to experiment with all of the ideas developed in class.

Filmmaking: Advanced Projects in Directing

The class is a production workshop in which advanced filmmaking students will prepare, direct, and edit a short film. At the start of the semester, each student must have a worthy, production-ready short script in excellent shape to which he/she is committed and for which he/she has the wherewithal to mount and complete. The screenplay and the student’s project overview will determine entry into the class. In the course, concurrent with final revision of the screenplay, preproduction will immediately ensue, including budgeting, scheduling, location scouting, casting, selecting of the creative team, and visual preparation. Naturally, shooting and editing of the film will follow—ideally early enough in the semester to allow for an opportunity to focus on editing, sound effects, music, and the details of postproduction. The aim is a completed, festival-worthy short film. The minimum required to complete this class is a rough cut of the film.

Acting for Screenwriters and Directors: Less Is More—How to Talk the Talk

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for evolving directors and screenwriters is the inability to achieve the performance envisioned on the page or on the set. It is lost in translation. How does a screenwriter write clear, concise, actable action and dialogue that can be transformed from the page to the performance? How does a director create trust with performers and find a language with which to communicate among a variety of actors, acting styles, and temperaments? Performers are emotional, volatile, highly creative beings. To create the performance that you desire as a screenwriter and/or director, you need to develop a succinct shorthand language that is not confusing, condescending, or incomprehensible. The best way to understand the world of the actor is to live within it. By exploring acting skills, you will better understand the world of the performer. Beginning with a series of rigorous physical, sensory, and emotional exercises, students will develop a basic understanding of the craft of acting. Students will work on spontaneity, substitution, focus, listening, reacting, subtext, objectives, action, and outcome. Students will be assigned contemporary film scripts to read and discuss. In addition to the texts, students will explore the historical and political underpinnings of the scripts and films. We will then extract scenes to work on as actors, memorizing and creating the personal inner life of the characters based on your own life experiences. Students will have the opportunity to direct peers in scenes to be rendered on video; edited scenes will then be critiqued to help the emerging screenwriter and director build a foundation of skills. Students will be required to keep a weekly journal of the journey, as well as to deliver a final conference project.

Directing Methods: Creating a Solid Foundation Through Collaboration

This is a scene development, writing, and directing methods class that builds on skills acquired in Acting for Screenwriters and Directors or in another related course. Thoughtful and rigorous viewing of feature film clips, original short films, Web series work, and accompanying screenplays will fuel discussion of what “works” or what doesn’t and why. In the course, students will write short, two-to-five-page vignettes. The idea is to capture a moment that can stand on its own and/or be the foundation for a larger piece that can be revisited and expanded upon in conference or in another class. Within the group, the screenplay texts will be analyzed, dissected, and discussed with an eye toward translating them to the screen. When the scripts are camera-ready, the students will rotate through assigned production responsibilities for each individual project, building an understanding of the mechanics and many moving parts involved in rendering a screenplay scene to the screen. Everyone will write and direct scene work. The focus will be on creating an environment that is inclusive and collaborative rather than authoritarian or competitive. The class includes hands-on tech lab workshops that help students with foundational skills in lighting, cameras, sound, and editing. Students will be required to keep a weekly journal of the journey, as well as to deliver a final conference project.

Producing for the Screen: A Real World Guide, Part 1

Producers are credited on every film, television, and media project made. Producers are crucial—even seminal—to each and every production, no matter how big or small. Yet, even as a pivotal position in the creative and practical process of making a film, TV show, or media project, the title “producer” is perhaps the least understood of all the collaborators involved. What is a producer? This course answers and demystifies that question, examining what a producer actually does in the creation of screen-based media and the many hats one (or a small army of producers) may wear at any given time. Students will explore the role of the producer in the filmmaking, television, and video process from the moment of creative inspiration through project development, proposal writing, financing, physical production—indeed, down to the nuts-and-bolts aspects of script breakdown, budgeting, scheduling, and delivering a film, TV, or video project. Students will gain hands-on experience in developing projects, breaking them down into production elements, and crafting schedules and budgets, as well as learning pitching skills and packaging strategies. Course work includes: logline, synopsis, and treatment writing; script breakdown, budgeting and scheduling; pitching, and final project presentation. Conference projects may include producing a film or media project by a student in another filmmaking production class at Sarah Lawrence College, a case study of several films from the producer perspective, the development and preproduction of a proposed future “virtual” film or video project, and the like. A practical course in the ways and means of producing, the class will consider the current state of producing through nuts-and-bolts production software and exercises, verbal and written assignments, and industry guests currently working in film and television. Designed to provide real-world producing guidance, the course offers filmmakers and screenwriters a window into the importance of—and mechanics pertaining to—the producing discipline, along with a practical skill set for seeking work in the filmmaking and media-making world after Sarah Lawrence College.

Producing For The Screen: A Real World Guide, Part II

Building on Producing for the Screen: A Real World Guide, Part l, students will expand their knowledge of the role of the producer in the realm of filmmaking, television, and video—especially as it relates to the ongoing creative process. Diving deeper into the real-world application of the producer’s role and applying knowledge and skills from Part l, course work includes best producing practices, script coverage, entertainment law, producing dos and don’ts, traditional and innovative financing models, domestic and foreign film and television markets, daily industry trends, sizzle reel and trailer analysis, fine-tuning pitching skills, film marketing and publicity, examining the distribution process and release strategies, navigating the festival circuit, understanding the roles of lawyers, agents, managers, and sales agents, and deciphering the intersection of art and commerce as it relates to the business and human elements of producing. Course work includes written and oral assignments, presentations, assignments based on invited industry guests, and in-class final presentations. Conference work ranges from in-depth case studies to producing other students’ projects. Upon completing the course, students will have an extensive understanding of the producer’s role from creative development to final delivery.

Studio Arts

First-Year Studies: Things and Beyond

This course will explore the possibilities for creative production inspired by a range of inquiries, including readings, discussions, critiques, looking at the work of contemporary artists, and observing the work of students in the class as their work unfolds. We will read a range of texts, as well as visit museums and/or galleries. In doing so, we will consider different ways of thinking about art, which will lead us to consider different ways of defining and producing art. We will explore concepts as ways of discovering different subjectivities and situations in which art can become. We will take a global perspective in looking at contemporary art. The course will experiment with the ways in which texts, images, discussions, and activity can alter one’s inner landscape, enabling different kinds of (art) work to emerge. This is predominantly a studio course that will incorporate a range of activities in conjunction with studio work. We will encounter materials such as cardboard, wood, metal, plaster, and digital media, with technical support provided in the handling of these media. Experience in the visual, performative, industrial, and/or digital arts is helpful.

First-Year Studies: Basic Analog Black-and-White Photography

This analog film-based course introduces the fundamentals of black-and-white photography: acquisition of photographic technique, development of personal vision, and discussion of photographic history and contemporary practice. Reviews are designed to strengthen the understanding of the creative process, while assignments will stress photographic aesthetics and formal concerns. Conference work entails research into historical movements and individual artists’ working methods through slide presentations. Throughout the year, students are encouraged to make frequent visits to gallery and museum exhibitions and to share their impressions with the class. The relationship of photography to liberal arts also will be emphasized. Students will develop and complete their own bodies of work as culmination of their study. This is not a digital photography course. Students must have a 35mm film or medium-format film camera and be able to purchase film and gelatin silver paper throughout the year.

Drawing On Sight

Drawing is an exciting art form that encourages experimentation and embraces mistakes; it’s a record, on paper, of how we see and think. This will be a highly creative, rigorous course that will challenge you to think about the medium of drawing in new and transformative ways. In the fall semester, you will learn to use the fundamental tools and techniques of observational drawing to translate onto paper what you see of the visible world through your own unique point of view. Our subjects will include the human body, still life, photographs, spaces, drawings from nature, etc. We will not keep our subjects at a distance but will try to connect with them, move around and through them, and deconstruct them to really SEE what we are drawing from diverse viewpoints. In the spring semester, you’ll apply what you’ve learned in the fall to subjects off campus. Each week, we’ll travel to a different location to draw “on site.” We’ll work in nature—on various locations along the Hudson River—and in museums such as the Metropolitan Museum and Museum of Natural History in New York City, among others. You’ll investigate a wide range of exciting subjects using the tools of drawing. Ultimately, your drawings will reflect how YOU see the world. This course is suitable for all levels. Studio practice will be reinforced through discussion, written work, readings, slides, and museum visits. Visiting artists and studio visits with artists in New York City will be scheduled.

Collage

The term collage was coined by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the early 20th century. Collage is an art form comprised of pre-existing images that the artist manipulates and recombines in new ways. The term is derived from the French “coller,” meaning “glue.” In this studio course, students will explore the myriad processes and materials of collage today—paper, paint, 3-D objects, digital, photographic, found materials, and others. We will also learn, through slide lectures and presentations, about the history of collage from its origins in Eastern art to its recent resurgence in Western contemporary art. Visits to artists’ studios in New York City and visiting artists in class will also provide a foundation and inspiration for our work. Pervading this exploration will be an ongoing discussion about the significance of appropriation: What do authorship and creativity mean to you? This course will allow students to express themselves through the manipulation and recombination of images in extremely personal ways. Collage: almost always obsolete, almost always new. It’s an exciting line to walk.

The Face: A Mixed-Media Studio

The history of portraiture is vast and rich in inventiveness, social commentary, psychology, and political power. The face, or portrait, will be our jumping-off point in this mixed-media studio course. Students will be asked to investigate portraiture—self-portraits and otherwise—in creative and personal ways and across mediums (painting, drawing, photo, sculpture, video, etc.). Students will experiment with point of view, scale, style, and various mediums. For context, we will look at the history of portraiture and how contemporary artists deal with the human face as subject matter. Students will be asked to research artists and styles of portraiture and present their work in class. Visits to artists’ studios in New York City and visiting artists in class will also provide a foundation and inspiration for our work.

Game Studio: Games From Nothing

Starting with an empty code panel and a blank Android screen, this class encourages students to build small unusual games “live” and “on-the-spot,” one design concept and one line of code at a time. The idea is to experiment with color, motion, and sound while searching for simple behaviors that can be sequenced or combined to produce the “wave of interesting choices” that makes a game fun. This course will also survey digital artists who use interaction as an expressive tool and material for art making. Our goal is to create what’s new and interesting and sometimes weird but, above all, playable. No programming or video game background is required—or preferred. Android tablets will be provided for testing.

New Media Lab: Remix the City

How do you deal with the city in which you live? What is most visible in your town? What is, by now, barely legible? Or completely erased? What does not exist at all except in your imagination? This class teaches the basics of new media practice while looking at ways that artists respond to and remix the cities in which they live. We’ll survey all kinds of interventions— from guerilla projection to sticker novels and street art—and learn how some of these personal revisions of public space play off theories of architecture, economics, and critical media. Students will work on two small interventions of their own in this course, along with one larger class intervention. Artists referenced include: Martha Rosler, Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Franco and Eva Mattes, Jane and Louise Wilson, Alexander Kluge, Grazia Toderi, Yang Yongliang, and more. Both analog and digital projects are welcome.

Game Studio: Bad Guys

Barriers, boundaries, and no-go adversaries—for many players, a game is only as good as its obstacles, or “bad guys.” In this course, we’ll take an in-depth look at obstacles and how they operate in small mobile games. What makes a game “bad guy” fun as opposed to frustrating? How do programmers create obstacles that players can eventually defeat? How do designers create barriers that players are able to recognize as defeatable? What in-play clues contribute to “bad guys” that can first stop players, then help them learn to succeed? Students will build two small games in this class, each centered on a memorable “bad guy.” We’ll also look at some classic game barriers and consider how players feel about “bad guys” as they make their way past them.

New Media Lab: Mapping the Invisible

The traditional ways of mapping the world rely on drawing objects that we can see with our eyes; but much of human experience is structured according to systems, networks, and connections that are largely unseen. What systems of meaning should be acknowledged when documenting our surroundings? What kinds of knowledge do we recognize in our sense of place? What is the difference—and what are the similarities—between our personal, cultural, and technological accountings of the world? Maps of the invisible can be based on any kind of connection perceived in a terrain. In this course, we’ll study landscapes that are both geographic and intangible—based on objective reality but also on memory, narrative, and systems of power—and reference artists, thinkers, cartographers, and geographers who are interested in manifestations of invisible systems while learning the basics of digital media production. Students will produce two individual map projects and contribute their own set of project markers to a larger collaborative map that we’ll design as a class. Readings will include the works of artists Trevor Paglan, Kathy Acker, Guy Debord, Fred Tomaselli, Paula Scher, Layla Kurtis, Alighiero Boetti, Joyce Kozloff, Ed Ruscha, and Susan Stockwell, as well as the writers Gloria Anzaldua, Amitav Ghosh, and Jorge Luis Borges.

Drawing Machines

From environmentally powered drawings to computer vision and motors, drawing machines serve as a vehicle to visualize the energy patterns in the world around us in new and interesting ways. In this class, we will examine drawing machines from the perspective of the hacker and of the inventor, applying technical and nontechnical tools alike to create emergent behaviors in our work. The class will begin with a survey of practitioners within the field of process-oriented art and evolve into an exploration of basic interactive circuitry and programming. We will spend a significant amount of time learning how to build projects with the Arduino microcontroller platform. A series of in-class prototyping workshops will introduce students to a variety of materials and building strategies, while outside-of-class assignments will build upon each week’s explorations into generative art-making techniques. In addition to regular class meetings and conferences, students will be expected to participate in weekly group workshops facilitating skill-sharing and group problem solving. Experimentation and learning through concerted effort will be paramount.

Kinetic Sculpture With Arduino

Sculpture is as much about motion as it is about materials. Whether a piece resists the stressors of its environment or actively responds to them, our relation to three-dimensional artwork depends upon both the implied motion of static forms and their kinetic aspects. In this class, we will utilize circuitry and interactive electronics to create sculptures that move and have the ability to respond to their audience and environment. We will utilize the Arduino microcontroller platform and learn about the basics of motor control, sensors, and programming. Prior programming and electronics experience is not required, but an interest in emerging media tools will be a useful asset. We will study artists working within the field, referencing and building upon existing work in the process of developing our own ideas. Through hands-on prototyping, testing, and finishing, we will grow our skill sets and become increasingly adept at navigating the junction between concept and feasibility.

Beginning Painting: Composite Constructions

This course is an introduction to the materials and techniques of oil painting. There will be an examination of various painting strategies that fluctuate between specific in-class assignments and individual conference projects. The primary focus will be an elaboration on rudimentary concepts such as color, tonal structure, spatial construction, painting surfaces, and composition. The fall semester focuses on the subject of still life and landscape, subjects that will be the starting point for experimentation with spatial structures ranging from direct observation to composite constructions. We will also explore narrative possibilities that landscape and still-life paintings can imply and examine the role of these subjects in the history of painting and other visual media. The course will culminate in an individual project that will be researched by the student and discussed during conferences and course critiques and will include a large-scale painting. In-class assignments will be supplemented with PowerPoint presentations, reading material, film clips and video screenings, group critiques, and homework projects. Students are required to work in the studio outside the class time in order to develop the work. The goal of the course is to gain confidence with technical aspects of painting and to begin to establish an individual studio practice.

Beginning Painting: Narrative Structures

In this course, students will be introduced to the materials and techniques of oil painting. There will be an examination of various strategies that fluctuate between specific in-class assignments and individual studio work. Drawing, color theory, and color mixing will be an integral part of the course. We will focus primarily on portraiture and figure, as well as the historical, psychological, and narrative implications of using a human form as a subject. An exploration of studio-based strategies will include working from observation and using mediated imagery such as film stills, photography, and art history. The course will culminate in an individual project that will be researched by the student and discussed during conferences and course critiques and will include a large-scale painting. In-class assignments will be supplemented with PowerPoint presentations, reading material, film clips and video screenings, group critiques, and homework projects. Students are required to work in the studio outside the class time in order to develop the work. The goal of the course is to gain confidence with technical aspects of painting and to begin to establish an individual studio practice.

Contemporary Painting

This painting course addresses the relationship of form and content in the expanded field of contemporary painting. A series of open-ended painting assignments will provide parameters within which students can navigate their personal interests, focus criteria, and deepen their technical practices. Projects will include observational and media-based image sourcing, composite spaces, abstraction, collaboration, stylistic homages, and fictional portraiture. Students may work in oil or acrylic; non-conventional material is also welcome. A sketchbook practice is required for collecting source material, developing imagery, research, and class notes. Final conference projects will be grounded in independent research as it relates to the student’s personal sensibility. In addition to studio production, students will investigate the historical and contemporary relevance of their work through readings, slideshows, and presentations. Critical and communication skills related to painting will be developed through critique and group discussions. Visiting artists, workshops, and field trips will be integrated into the course curriculum to enrich the painting process. Open to students who have had painting courses at a college or advanced high-school level.

Color Photography

This course concentrates on the technique and aesthetics of color photography using both traditional (analog) and digital methods. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the very nature of a color photograph. Students will print in the color darkroom and in the digital darkroom. They will explore “color seeing.” Readings in the history of photography will be part of the course work. Permission of the instructor is required.

Color Photography

This course concentrates on the technique and aesthetics of color photography using both traditional (analog) and digital methods. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the very nature of a color photograph. Students will print in the color darkroom and in the digital darkroom. They will explore “color seeing.” Readings in the history of photography will be part of the course work. Permission of the instructor is required.

Intermediate Photography

This course will explore aesthetic, historical, and conceptual concerns of photography. Students may use analog (film) or digital capture to make either black-and-white or color photographs. Lectures, readings, and gallery/museum visits will present a historical framework and a theoretical structure that will form the foundation for class discussions and critiques. Use of the medium to express a personal aesthetic vision will be stressed. The focus of the class will be on developing and refining a body of work in which concept, form, content, scale, editing, and sequencing will be explored through experimentation and personal expression. Students will build upon their technical knowledge and will be challenged to acquire new skills. Students will learn and become fluent in the vernacular of looking at images by examining composition, interpreting symbolism, and deciphering the artist’s intentions.

Advanced Photography

This is a rigorous studio course in which students will produce a body of work while studying the relevant artistic and photographic precedents. A working knowledge of photographic history and contemporary practice is a prerequisite, as is previous art or photographic work that indicates readiness for the advanced questions presented by this course.

Printmaking (Intaglio)

The word intagliare, meanging to engrave, had its origin in mid-17th century Italy; its derivative, intaglio, in the 21st century encompasses a variety of ways in which an image is engraved or etched into a hard surface—in our case, in this one semester class, a copper plate. Working in a nontoxic environment, students will learn age-old techniques inherent to intaglio printmaking (but without the use of harmful chemicals) in order to produce a series of prints in this beautiful medium. Emphasis is placed on the development of each class member's aesthetic concerns.

Artist Books

In the past, the book was used solely as a container for the written word. More recently, however, the book has emerged as a popular format for visual expression. Students will begin this course by learning to make historical book forms from various cultures (Coptic, codex, accordion, and Japanese-bound) in order to see the book with which we are familiar in a new and wider context. From there, students will apply newly learned techniques and skills, ranging from computer-generated and manipulated imagery to the production of nontraditional artist books. The course will also cover all aspects of letterpress printing, including setting type, using the press, and making and printing with polymer plates. Whether employing text, images, or a combination of the two, emphasis will be placed on the creation of books as visual objects. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have previously taken a visual arts course.

Printmaking (Silkscreen)

This course introduces the student to the basic fundamentals and concepts of silkscreen printing in an environment that practices newly developed, nontoxic, printmaking methodologies. Participants will learn how to develop an image (either hand-drawn or computer-generated), how to transfer the image to paper, and how to print an edition with primary emphasis placed on the development of each class member’s aesthetic concerns. Exercises in color and color relationships will also be included in the content of this class.

Artist Books

In the past, the book was used solely as a container for the written word. More recently, however, the book has emerged as a popular format for visual expression. Students will begin this course by learning to make historical book forms from various cultures (Coptic, codex, accordion, and Japanese-bound) in order to see the book with which we are familiar in a new and wider context. From there, students will apply newly learned techniques and skills, ranging from computer-generated and manipulated imagery to the production of nontraditional artist books. The course will also cover all aspects of letterpress printing, including setting type, using the press, and making and printing with polymer plates. Whether employing text, images, or a combination of the two, emphasis will be placed on the creation of books as visual objects. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have previously taken a visual arts course.

Advanced Printmaking

This course offers an opportunity for an in-depth study of advanced printmaking techniques. Students will be encouraged to master traditional skills and techniques so that familiarity with process will lead to the development of a personal and meaningful body of work. The course will also cover all aspects of letterpress printing, enabling participants to incorporate text into their conference work if so desired.

Sculpture and the Meaning of Making

In this yearlong course, we will explore an expansive notion of sculpture and work to develop the critical and practical tools necessary to approach art-making from various directions. As gallery and museum press releases declare works as “blurring the boundaries” between art and other disciplines (such as design, display, film, furniture, architecture, and theatre), students in this class are invited to investigate the practices involved in those distinct worlds and to consider how they might be incorporated intotheir own sculpture. Studio process will be emphasized so that students come away with a significant understanding of how things are made. We will learn about established sculptural materials and techniques, as well as those used in less traditional fabrication industries. Fieldwork and hands-on experimentation will be critical to create a personal body of work in dialogue with the contemporary art environment and the world at large. Beyond the making of objects, projects may include ephemeral and interdisciplinary practices: actions and their documentation, collaborative work, living strategies, installation, etc. Students will be encouraged to consider the place and context of their projects and to ask questions about whom they want to reach as working artists. Through studio demonstrations, individual projects, in-class presentations, related readings, and field trips to galleries and studios, we will investigate issues surrounding the creation of new, relevant, and vital work. Each project will be discussed in a group critique, with the aim of helping the artist express a vision in the most focused and most dynamic way possible. Previous experience in sculpture is helpful but not necessary. Please bring images of any pertinent past work to the interview.

Digital Imaging Techniques

This course will cover contemporary digital practice, with an emphasis on Photoshop skills and imaging techniques from scanning to printing. Students will learn proper digital workflow, along with the basics of image manipulation tools, color correction, and retouching. The broader classroom discussion will emphasize computer-generated and -manipulated imagery as a new paradigm in contemporary art, photography, and culture in general. Through independent projects, students will be encouraged to explore the potential of digital tools in the context of their personal work—visual arts-related or otherwise—stressing open-ended visual possibilities, as well as technical and conceptual rigor.

Color

Color is a primordial idea. It is life, and a world without color would appear dead to us. Nothing affects our entire being more dramatically than color. The children of light, colors reveal the richness and fullness of all that surrounds us. Color soothes us and excites us, changing our outlook, our dreams, our desires, and our environment. Using a variety of methods and materials, this course will focus on an exploration of color agents and their effects. Not a painting course, this course will explore basic color theory, perception, and the aesthetic, physiological, and psychological relationships between color application and use.

Two-Dimensional Design

Design grows out of a need for meaningful order in our lives. In art as well as in nature, our perception and understanding of order relies on the ability to perceive qualities and relationships that extend beyond the mere sum of a group of parts. The word “design” indicates both the process of organizing elements and the products of that process. Through clearly-defined problems and laboratory exercises, this course will examine the principles, strategies, and applications essential to an understanding of visual order within any two-dimensional framework. The course will concentrate on structures, concepts, and relationships common to an understanding of, and control over, visual vocabulary. Line and form, texture and pattern, space and continuity, presentation and format, repetition and rhythm, color and context, composition and gestalt, unity and variety are some of the issues to be explored.

Interdisciplinary Studio/Seminar

A dialogue with peers working in a variety of disciplines, this course is designed for experienced visual arts students. It is a forum to share and discuss critical, creative, intellectual strategies and processes while building, nurturing, and sustaining an independent point of view. Each participant will be expected to focus on growing the values, commitments, and attitudes embedded in his or her own body of work and ideas. Experimentation, innovation, and uniqueness of vision will be encouraged, along with habits of discipline necessary to support all creative endeavors. Readings and discussion of art and cultural history are an important part of the weekly course work. Open to juniors and seniors with prior visual art experience.

Related Course

Another course offered this year in Visual Arts is listed below. A full description of the course may be found under the appropriate discipline.